A couple of tidbits....in response to Syrofoam Cueball below...Sing Me Back Home is not an unreleased Dead song....it was written by Merle Haggard and released by same on a country album in the early '60's.

The mechanical defects in this recording are interesting. As noted below...Ramble On Rose cuts out halfway through....There's an abrubtness to Sitting On Top of the World that makes me wonder if the sound people were scrambling to catch up to the band...These problems and others have kept (until now) this show from commercial release. But now, 40 years later almost to the day, I find these anomolies part of the charm and beauty of this recording, like an old family photo, slightly out of focus, with red reflecting from eyes into the camera, yet ripe with meaning and memory.
The bizzarre foreign voice that streams in through Sing Me Back Home (which is a beautiful song) actually adds a mystery and romance to the recording that seems oddly appropriate. Yes, there was something mysterious going on during this tour. Noone, not the fans, not reviewers, not even the band has yet been able to explain it.
That's okay....we can simply enjoy it.
I believe that this tour truly did represent the high water mark of the band. Some fans may not truly understand how much Pigpen meant to the Dead, and this was his swan song. A glorious one at that. He was too sick to remain with the band when they returned stateside, and their sound never truly was same afterwards.

This show has some memorable and well-played versions of some all time favorites (Tennessee Jed, Black-Throated Wind, Good Lovin', Playin', Sugaree, etc.), as well as some stuff you wouldn't find anywhere else.

The Dark Star is one of the best of all time, period. It is my second favorite Dark Star I've ever heard (behind only the 8-27-72 version from Ken Kesey's farm in Eugene, Oregon). The jam is delicate, sensitive, ethereal, and screaming-wild all at the same time. It is the Dead at their absolute artistic best. Wonderful stuff.

I'm fortunate in that I obtained a copy of the SDB before it was pulled off the archive. Trust me, spend the $100 and purchase the Europe Tour from the band....you won't regret it. I have about 25% of the tour and they represent the pearls of my collection.

Some of the ambience and depth of the highs is missing and so is some of the tape hiss.

EQ adjustment during playback is recommended for full stereo-phonic effect.

Solid show, fantastic performance by the GRATEFUL DEAD.

Europe 72' is so different sounding than the Fillmore East & West April 1971 you wonder what happened?

Audio = 4 stars, Performance = 5 stars, Mix = 5 stars.

4 songs by Pigpen is always a treat.
Pigpen's "Good Lovin'" is Super-Funky, don't miss it.

An unexpected "Sitting On Top of the World" is a pleasant surprise.

Dark Star into Morning Dew is GOLD. wow Munich got lucky.

During "Sing Me Back Home" you can hear some male voice speaking a foreign language in the background on a microphone.

Eat, drink, be merry and listen to the GRATEFUL DEAD.

Thanks for the love.

CONS:

1)Ramble On Rose cuts off halfway through: jarring!
2)There's some bass distortion on a lot of songs that is difficult to EQ out, but it can be done...mostly. I guess it's better than no bass at all, there are a few boards like that.
3) The whole show is like one big first set, little jamming except for the marvelously atonal Star and some pretty licks in Playin'. If I had this many great new tunes to try out, I might skip the jamming too...but I miss it, knowing how tight they were in '72.
4) Bobby flubs some words, especially in Sugar Mag.
5) I love and adore and cherish Donna dearly, but except for Sing Me Back Home (my favorite unreleased Dead song) she sounds like she can't hear herself in the monitors, and it gets a bit rough at times. I refuse to bash her as some here do, but even Delightful Donna could have a bad night. All the other singers have off nights too...lotsa evidence on the archive. Don't cast a stone at Donna Jean until you admit that Garcia sometimes brays like a goat or creaks like a rusty door hinge, Weir can bellow like some tone deaf Bull Moose, Pig occasionally goes out of tune, and Lesh....could put a demented Swiss yodeler to shame. At times. Thankfully, those times are rare....I just get so sick of the Donna bashing...rant endeth.

PROS:

1) It's Yurp 72, dammit!!! :) So the band is as tight as it can be and is playing incredibly on most every cut. Many think this tour was a peak in the band's career, and this board makes a good case.
2) I don't usually care much for Sugaree, but this version is absolutely tremendous, with Pig on organ and Keith on Piano giving it a unique and beautiful sound.
3) Pigpen. He's on on all his numbers, and I think we should all stop and drink a toast to a one-of-a-kind individual, kick-ass singer and keyboardist (and harpist), Angel, Flower Child, Badass...his kind will never pass this way again. A toast! :)
4) The piano/guitar duel in Dark Star is pretty special, even Weir gets into the act with some funky wailing.
5) My favorite ever Black Throated WInd. It just grooves like a mo-fo, and Lesh really delivers some luscious loaves on this one.
6) First set begins with Truckin' and ends with Casey Jones, how cool is that?

sorry for the inordinate length... but it's a good show!

Great show, very good sound quality. The only glitches, a cut Ramble On Rose, and a wierd radio broadcast or something interfering with Morning Dew. Although Donna's off key screeching can be very annoying, don't pass up this one.
The dangers of drugs you hire a tone deaf singer to join your band.

This is a find
the sound is great, this show helps me to better understand the hype/truth of the magic of Europe 72. I never held any beefs against the tour, I regarded it as a crossroad for the band, the beginnings of some great exploration, primarely inside Playin' and Truckin"s> other one's, and a chance to polish the fall 71 offerings.

I can see here now that there is a richer experience taking place, All instruments and players are running and co-exisiting quiet nicely. Consider both Pigpen and Keith's sound into the songs offering the best of both worlds. In 65-67ish Pigpen's organs were quite dominant, it was an early growing time for all players, but this was clearly a primitive version of what Grateful Dead sound could be, rich and multi-layered compositional. When TC took over Pigpen's organ contribution is minimal at best, but when he sat down again specifically one show I suspect you've heard 2-18-71, and twinkled about, there was a new conciousness of expression, not as a blanket sound, but another player in the band. This characteristic spells out Pigpen's playing in Europe, adding colour and emotion to some of the classics, harmonious, yet independant of Keith. Hands Down the Most Exciting Lineup I can name.

Dark Star to Morning Dew is a respected fall 72thru74 experience, To have it here, well it's a forward looking statement to say the least.

Keith on Pigpen's Good Lovin' is uniqiue. Sure I love the 70-71 funky GoodLovin's with all the drums and Raps, it was a second Lovelight, but These Europe GL's carve new texture of jaming direction. I used to wonder how could Pigpen have fit into 73 jazz exlorations anyhow, was there a place for him, similar to the question, what the heck was Donna doing in the middle of Playin's or Darkstars, I even think the GD movie eludes to this quesition. But from hearing this show, I realize that some of the insperation of the open-jazz springs directly from Pigpen' breakdown-buildup songs, and that he could have strived in the post 2-9-73 era. And then I can begin to imagine the possibilites, and make it happen in my mind.

72 stars. Thankyou very much Archive, Remasterer, GD.

Well let me just say....these days...I strongly dislike Europe and its "our cities smell like shite but we are so sofisiticated" attitude. But at least I know that in 72 it was a good place.....thanks to the band who brings sunshine on a cloudy day.

I Was 19 living in Munich waiting for the new academic year. having been accepted to the U of Tel Aviv.
After Graduating from Munich American High the previous year, (An army school where the crowd split into three categories; Boozers, Geeks and Freaks.Yours truly squeezing into the latter)I was eager to retain my Draft Board 100 classification (American Living Overseas, draft only if WWIII breaks out and/or Canada attacks) until the madness in Nam or the Draft itself peters out.
So I stuck around in Munich.

1972; The year the Dead came, The Olympics came, The Palestinian terrorists murdered 13 Israeli Athletes and changed my life.

Munich was a town where till 1972 almost all big acts were booked at the 'Circus Krone' an oval shaped arena where over ten thousand fit inZeppelin, Santana, Deep Purple(major double dose window pane freak out) et al all played there. I guess they anticipated a more low key response to the Dead coming because they were booked at the much smaller but classier and better sounding Kongresssaal in the Deutsches Museum, In my opinion the crowd was by far mostly Americans and not locals, but there were a few of them too in the well attended concert. ( The Olympia Halle was being built and not yet available on that date,,, I think) Sinatra, classical concerts et al this was the Venue.
I loved the show. Jerry was the closest thing any celeb ever came to influencing me and I was googely the whole show cherishing every minute of 'There's nothing like' The sound the delivery the atmosphere the happy good vibe It was wonderful
Jerry had declared that drugs were good for you brought people closer quicker and I believed him, I bought it.
Unfortunately when he found out the truth about drugs he wasn't that hot to spread the word. It suddenly became every man for himself Caveot Emptor
When I was slapped with that reality regarding dope I felt mad at Jerry and the Dead (Logical) and stopped listening to them for almost a decade ( The 80's)
I later took responsibility and decided to go back to the Dead and take the good that I loved and disregard the rest as I would any rock act.
And so, as most people my age, I collected 'Bootleg" Tapes of concerts, some terribly recorded, some better.
You guys don't know how good you have it with the 'Archive', 'GD Live' and the fruits of the labor of love the various internet sites bring to our listening pleasure in what is ultimately relative ease and great quality.
Credit where credit is due You Archivist are the cream of the crop. You make our generation proud.
Long Live

I think the first set alone would characterize this as a very good show. Keith is feelin' it on TN Jed and Chinatown Shuffle. The mix is even, the sound is great. In my opinion, late 71 and early 72 are Keith's best concerts.

Then a great Dark Star. Everything in this show is tight, smooth. Normally I think the Dead often sacrifice tightness for the chance of an occassional, beautiful, stellar moment. But this show is tight. I cannot figure out why Europe 72 is such a climax in terms of instrumentation and energy. I am at a loss to describe how utterly amazing all these shows are from this tour. Every show is dynamic. Can anyone tell me why?

This source MUST'VE been updated since the first reviews...
this is possibly the BEST Europe 72 sbd on this site.
The sound is near perfect!
-and since the DStar is quality, i'm just gonna give this show a 5 star, to boost the overall rating and draw some attention to this show.

sound is def. a 6 , and the show is at least a 4 , since its a europe 72 show w/ a star, so...
5.
--slim.

I tend to overlook this song as it only appears throught '71 and '72 with a few performances in '73. The performance here is splendid and should not be overlooked. It is sung really well by JG and his guitar has a real sweet tone that made me stop and give it a real good listen too. Otherwise a somewhat typical Europe '72 show on a not so good recording. It sounds kind of muffled but it is listenable.

besides cuts at the end of a few tunes this download and show rocks. some nice pigpen work on hurts me too, mr. charlie, and chinatown. sugaree, jed, btw, are tight. playing goes there as does dark star, the jerry/keith face off at the end is manic. the real gem of this show is sing me back home, every bit as good as veneta although ron's organ is way low in the mix.